I am going to vietnam for 2 weeks and am from australia. Should i take any US currency and if so why? i have heard US dollars may be hopeful but should i and if so how much?
Your help would be appreciated.

for VN just take your own currency and convert it to dong, the medium of exchange.....i prefer atm usage to get money

Take US dollars or TCs if you have them, otherwise you shouldn't have much trouble changing Aussie dollars. There are also penty of ATM machines. If your card is on the Cirrus/Maestro/Plus/ networks you should be fine.

http://www.travelsinasia.com/Vietnam/Vietnam.htm

We went to North Vietnam about 2 years ago and the USD was accepted everywhere even in Sapa. I changed very little local currency. But don't carry big notes, small USD notes are the way to go. I stock up on my USD small notes whenever I visit the States as it is the unofficial currency in countries like Turkey, Morocco, Cambodia etc

Sorry, but it seems to me that offering US$ anywhere but in the USA is insensitive and usually unnecessary, certainly in Vietnam.

I would prefer not to rub people's noses in the fact that they may have a weak currency. In my country it would be considered an insult if a visiting American tried to pay for something in US$, and rightly so. Let's err on the side of politeness.

tegger, we visited (from Australia) 5-6 years ago and we did take a modest amount in TCs, because at that time ATMs were few and far between outside of HCMC and Hanoi. These days that's not the case, and there's no reason I'm aware of why you shouldn't just draw local currency as and when you need it.

Beg to differ. It's not that I force USD on them, that's what they accept and sometimes prefer. I'm just practical. I find it's not always easy to find official money changers for my AUD. Yes, I live in your country too. I would be happy to accept USD if I had a shop in Sydney where tourists frequent. Euros too.

I agree with Cilla - when I was in Hanoi in March, most places will actually present the bill in USD, not in Dong. In fact, I had taken out about 2000000 Dong when I arrived at the airport, and was shocked to learn that most stores preferred USD... I actually had to ask them for the price in Dong so that I could use what I had taken from teh ATM... at which point, ever single time, they looked a little disappointed, but took out the calculator and multiplied by 15920 to get the exchange rate.

Our hotel bill and restaurants that were "credit card worthy" (if the bill was over $20) actually presented the bill in USD - which was convenient for us being from the US becasue we avoided the 3% conversion charge most credit card companies charge to convert currencies.

In my experience, the only places that actually wanted Dong were "local restaurants" where the bill added up to like 24000VND for 2 people (about $1.50)

hope this helps...

Ken

My expereince in Hanoi a few year ago was that places would accept US$, but you were paying an inflated price. (Which is why merchants looked disappointed when you had dong) I paid for everything in dong I had taken out of the ATM. Use all of your dong before you leave VN as it is worthless outside the country.

The only place in Asia I use US dollars is Cambodia, as it is the preferred currency.

That is a first on me, Neil. I have never heard of someone being too proud to take USD. I am Canadian but I would never assume that an American was "rubbing my nose" in the fact that their dollar is stronger than mine.

I have travelled in many countries and a lot of the PREFER USD.

We were in Vietnam in August and what Cilla and Todd says is the norm- most places quote in US dollars and they do overinflate prices-if you want to buy cheaper use the dong.

A lot of the people we dealt with throughout Vietnam seemed to prefer the US dollar to the dong. We are Australian - at no time did we consider using Australian dollar. However, I got the feeling that it was not as widely accepted as the US dollar.

ATMs are everywhere. Also in places like Hanoi and Vietnam there are ANZ branches where you can exchange your Australian dollars easily.

If using US dollars again take on board the advice to have lots of small note amounts.Even our hotel in Hanoi could not change a US$100 bill so we ended up using our credit card.

Sorry mistake -ANZ branches in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.